Pago 4
THE CHINA MAIL, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1959....
Festival In Kuala Lumpur (4)
DISTANT CLOUDS
- HOLD it to be sheer impertinence to proceed to an unknown country and then write it up with all the assurance of a specialist in foreign affairs.
While avoiding that error on one hand, I will venture to state what I saw, and avoid venturing conclusions except when the coincidence of affaire which had placed me elsewhere in Asia, reveals a similarity between events.
Take Singapory, The thirtieth concerned
10
le bot waiting of this month Is D-Day. Neger Bind out. 11 moving up since the days of the non Kunta Lumpur. It has already laraented Al Capone of Chicago, arranged for distribution with can pullties have been so diriy, planes and cars.
full
The Malayan pagiera were I have a friend. in Singapore of doubtful speculation, who is an executive in an inter- One asked hopefully if the Bri- nationally renowned compary, Hish would step in and revoke He has been with them since the frendon they have granted leaving school. He is one year
He retirement. Singapore. They reasoned that off
tured feels he cannot the British would be justißed Shanghai. He
face Singapore. He is terribly In to doing.
the that he Cepressed. Not raj type. Lom ago
he com pleted his plans for relirement at home. What depresses him is to see everything crumble before these vicious forces. His then has been generous. He will refire one your earlier with no disadvantages. Now I would not draw conclusions
when except
circumstances warrowed much. Here I' coincidence.
Maybe, but I do not think that Britidu will do so, in fact, terrible though things are in Stogapore, i think world silbion would be against Britain Taking Buch a stop.
Never since I have been able to rud
ipper have
{dvent 80 much muck Hoging in print.
This
erkient. Serms
The People's Action Party look bet 10 pet in, and that is the #nish
of Singapore.
Organised
a well organised They te party. They are atesolutely rulh Jess in attaining their power,
"They are elever. They have divided Bele opponents and Cotiqued. Nor are they affald to threaten and
I l
A
The People's Action Parly, alimed at the flight of capital from Singapore addressed 4 letter to the executives of the big concerns. It suld, put the PAP and the would permit
In his concluding article John Luff looks at the political side of Singapore and its effect on Malaya
Communist Party before the city fell. If any are so foolish I believe what is said, they This is deserve all they get.
The PAP the real position. will freeze all assets, and may or may not pay a dividend. But I in the main, this money
for their fighting required
Today Singapore; to fund. morrow Mainyn:
Unfortunately. the Trind Socleties K14 and K24
Involved in this par- rather licular mess.
This is not surprising as both. were originally Revolutionary They are now the Sceleties. thug element in polities.
are
At the moment, they are proving their worth, delivering, as it were, a sample of their quality.
Ineffectiveness
They are proving two points. The Ineffectiveness of the Singapore Rollce
with Singapore la not entertain- ed.
Rother fa an independent purt to be, developed,
The choice is Port Swetten- ham, within easy reach by rail road of Kuala Lumpur and its satellite town industries.
A vost lean has been secured, and already work on the de- velopment of this port has com- monced. Only yesterday, 1 saw Rome cases being packed in Kow- loon, and a workman was sten ciling in "Port Sweltenham Shape of things to come? think so.
1
all peoples, within the Federa- tion will be proud to be Malayans.
Now, that is not easy, and is, In fact, fraught with Carger. The grentest dunger from the large Chintse popula=" tion.
Now It Is ensy' tɔ zoo that Chinese industry and imazhia-
tjan
has contributed largely to the economic growth of Maloya, I could see also that the cultur.d industrial class of Chinese reem extremely happy to be within the framework of this democratic federation. But the Chinese are not prepared to surrender either their innguage or religious traditions, and they are tradi- tions that forbid the intermarry- ing of the people.
To a lesser extent, this multi- Notice they are almost all Chineso in this group waiting for the stars to poop out. racial soutely comprising Malays. Chinese, Indians and Pakistants,
There Is no of their island had altered that the economy Constitution, Europeans, and smaller groups and realise
Never at favoured
dre regarded nation within what- altogether, they is largely their own. cf Thais, Ceylonese, and Indo-
Everything is open to not as the remnanty of a de the aborigines, any time did I notice this point ever. eslans, plus
feated government, but the light- The thing that struck me about forms a dificull. problem,
sested, but I feel that should everyone within the country. no
Such anxiety that exists is ing champions of a force realst- Kuala Lumpur and its citizens less when une considers.
question arise, the that a minority
could be extremely not because of any shortcoming ng Marxist Imperialism. That was the tremendous self-respect their traditions carry taboos Chinese
within the State, but because Is the truth, not as i see it, but troublesome.
as the smaller powers of Asla schemers unscrupulous of the other without I met many
The Slate. Recent ce It people; am able to offer e events have helped Maloys. comment beyond the fact they 'The incident of Tibet has
they enjoy. The Government of
the Federation of Malaya is wholly unacceptable to aware of the enormous dimeul-peoples ties ahead. They seen to me neither to underestimate them
nor overestimate them.
They know they have a long hard road ahead; they could be dealing self-complaisant, but they are
with Triod Societies; the not. quality of their ruthlessrices.
What they cannot see is. Soon as their masters achieve PAP power, they will have a taste of
their own incdicine. them to enjoy the advantages of capitolism for another twenty years,
On the other hand, should
PAR Gnd Hav indeed the
themselves in Times, opresiion, they would
make Singapore such a place that man and beast would and it hell.
This young and vigorous Government has achieved much, and it seerns to me, they are going right way about things.
the
your
Education
of
other
1
the Wisely, one third Federation's budget is spent un Education. That seems to me the paramount of wisdom, for
of a Démo the Best necessity cracy is an educated electorate. Furthermore, it seemed, as saw it, such a happy and rich country, that it is worth while and material making personal sacrifices for,
This is the way I me Those of mixed parenthood are very proud to glow up as Ma- ayns within a vigerous young!
of
So
seemed quite happy. The truth revealed lust what Marxist round to the Festival.
of a
no opinion from pollues mean. Is 1 beardl !maller groups, expressed either one way or the other.
This is the danger. In poll- ties Asia stands where Europe cod hundred years ago. There is a resurgence of Na- tionalism. Should some Lii scrupulous power ley to inter- fere with the imagined treatment
131-
of some related mirarity within the boundaries
of the Federation, there could be trouble,
.
Solidarity
all this was the back- I say again, nothing
political nalure entered our gates. I was wol made in feel strange as one of the only two non-Asiatics invited to work with the Festi- val. All were
generous all were most helpful; all leaned over backwards to make me feel at home,
I could not help but notice, I should have been bling had I falled to do so, the solidarity aniong
the smaller Aston Nations,
In return, 1 tried to, introduce Pollen
of were,
course, As many Europeins int right outside the Festival. We functions as I could to the visit None was aware of any different were a class within' class, ing delegations.
our
national status, We were a Often we could do Hitle bo group who had worked hard yond bow and smile, but good and were now playing harder,, will was everywhere,
But one day I caw the cmoll.
All this is causing misgivings Their real dimeulty, and one in Kuala Lumpur. El seems a that could be easily exploited. strange background to a Festie in the multi-national nature of
I saw none val, but
unduly their country. They could eas!- On the other hand, ly become the cori-pit of Asia, ormed. they are not trying to solve the
a position similar to that of the problem by default. As far as Balkans up to the 1914/18 war.
Singapore is could gather, Now word for word in matly written off us a port,
of the Govern, not in any sense a master race, residential The object of the ment is turn the Geographies are nevertheless aware that it is Federation can become Citizens the Tafel, and they were met and I left Kuala Lumpur with a the the instances,
letter PAP
the anticipated victory
with all the ad-
friends by a thunderclap of cheers. thousand
scattered exactly reads similar to that which PAP Singapore would be use term "Malaya" into a very rent their country. The Chinese are of Mulayn
11: tolerant Then I realised that the status. throughout Asia. from: The paper scrolved
the Shanghai less. The question of union expression, "Maluya" by wilth aware of their superb industry, wange
ro done. The Straits which claims to be fair to all parties has printed the ex
The waring chames ananir
PAP The Straits Times
bus Tel
knew
where they stand.
I
SO QUIET, SO POLITE, BUT....
Under
The Girls Who Line
The Pavement Of London's Surtax Zone
URZON STREET is in Mayfair, the surtax'
CURZON
zone
of London. It runs
Piccadilly, two minutes walk away.
parallel to
By Charles Curran
At one end of Curzon Street is Park Lane. At the other is the Mirabelle Restaurant, where "Howe," and Princess Margaret goes sometimes.
In between les nearly at twenty-five shillinge П half a mile of luxury: ex- dozen.
Who lives in Curzon, Street: pansive shops, glittering sa Erie Mieville, for ene: he offices, big houses, blocks of was King George Vi's private flats, a bar where you can retary Earl Howe, er an- other; his house is No. 32, On eat oysters by candlelight his letterbox Is the word
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Earl Howe made a sprich about Cuarzon Street the House of Lords a week or sa ago. After dark, he sakl. t is thick with prasiltutes and the men who Bye on them. People visiting him hot been accosted on his doorsley. One night home when....
10 it. a girl sitting in the driver's sent put out her hand to me and smiled.
cars,
From this point onwards, for the next hundred yards or so, the kerb was lined with and the pavement with girls.
The girls and the cars thinned out the farther I walked along Curzon Street.
When I got to the corner of he was walking Clarges Street there were none, Dut two cderly women were "I was confronted by a talking outside the corner pub. female who came out of a side One said: "Men! You must street and stood"in" front"of mormiever let them get out of hand, As I tried to side-step, the side- dear." The olter "süld!" "That's stepped too. I got bored with it, right. They're all the same... I took hold of her arms, put artful as inonkeys." _her_ba one side, and tried to _I want_ca_far as the Mirabelle. walk on. Then she attacked me flieti I crossed over and wanat with her brally, and tried IJ back along the north side of knock my hat off."
Curzon Street-
Earl Howe is 75 years old.
Justification
There was 4 division of labour, obviously: girls on one side of the street, pimps on the other.
He cited the state of Curzon 1 looked at the pimps. They Street to justify Britain's Strest were nearly all young men in Offence's Blll. If this Bill 18their tweniles, dressed in the carried, it will change the law kind of American-style clothe about, prostitutes, for the pur- that ecme from Soho: given to pose of driving them off the tapping cigarettes on their finger pavements.
nalls, speaking softly, in what sounded to me
ize telly'- Broadway dialect.
After reading his speech. went to Curzon Street to see for myself. Let me tell you what happened.
At 10.30 pm. I arrived at the Fark Lane end of Curzon Street, and began to walk along The pavement on the south side -that 13, the side ncarer Piccadilly. On the corner stood two coloured girls, with a black behind them. The woman said, as if she were thinking aloud: "Both very nice girls,"
woman
Nelther of them spoke.
I walked past.
Ten paces fur- ther on stood two white, girls They were holding each other's hands, and they seemed to me fourteen. And En be about scared. As I approached, a man moved away from them into doorway.
I came to No. 19, the house where Darnell died (there is a plaque on the wall), In front |of the doorstep was a girl in evening dress, with bare should- ers and while gloves. She said: "Good evening, dr. Would you like to come home with me? I. |hove' a" 'rár waiting.".
The car was at the kerb Д -few-yurda away. As I came up
Busier
Curzon Street got buster and busier, By 11.30 p.m. It was like an open-air market,
On the south side, there were
and more girls,
more men examining them, Bargains were struck all the time. Then the girl would lead the man to her car or, if she had no car, hold up her hand for a taxi. There were plenty available.
Sometimes a man would drive
the The country.
Government OF
anticipated conscicus of so boing, and white this. All
Thore who are Malayans are Federation have
who have the
within rights
or
POLICE
the
Eroup who reprea:nted Na- I reckon it a high honour to Hongkong, lienalist China emerge, from have ropresented
-**Vera, why you have to ask a man the way in Curzon-streat I shall never know.”
up, get out, walk, on the paye- sometimes in pairs, sometimes ment, select a girl, and lead her with pimps. Customers become
* fower, back to his car,
At midnight, I did another.. count. I reckoned
London Express Service.
Nor do 1 polles for tollering and solicit mon prostilule. In the, Bill. illegal about either. see why there should bo.
ing. Two tush cautions make This would strike at the pimpa Those girls in Curzon Street her a "common prostitute." With and the pick up motorists as What is my verdict on all certainly did not annoy any that tag oh her, sho Incurs those well as the 'girN.
But there in 2ong clause in the that there this? Well, I had, botter make, body, so far as I could see. They penalties, for soliciting-a. 10 were then neatly forty ears at an avowal of prejudice. I can- were as polite as air hostesses. fine for the first time,, £28 the Bill that I'opplaud heartily--all the kerbs on both sides of the 'not muster up any particular What They undoubtedly did, second time, three months in the more after my night in Curzon Street. That is Clauso street, and about as many giris Indignatton about prostitutes as though, was to cause obstruc pol the third time.
avallible. About one-third of such.
tion. But so did the pimpm-who This seems to me both wrong Four. It puzzles me that so many seemed to me to block the pave and unnecessary. Wrong, be For Clause Tour puis up the the girls, at a rough estimate,
can bo price for the pimp. As things were coloured.
women should find nothing re- ments a good deal more obstre- cause Curzon Street It was all curiously orderly, pugnant about the idea of mak- perously than the girls.
cleaned up simply by making are, the most he can get is two for money. But it Voices were kept low. I heard ing love
Now, Britain's Street Offences the penalties in tho Bill apply years in gaol in Britain. The It to everybody, men as well as Bill increases this to seven no quarrelling, no shouting, no seems to me just as odd that all singles out the girls.
normal man should pay some creates a new class of citizen womem, england, NMEYERIE, arguing, 1-2
By 12.39 am the rush was one to pretend that she fayes labelled Common Prostitute, think, therefore, that the. In my opinion, those Curzon ever. Girls got_into_their_cars him.
She is defined as: someone who, words "any person" should be, Street pimps deserve every hour has been twice cautioned by the substituted for the words "com- of seven yours,...
and drove off. Sometimes alone, All the same, there is nothing